LAS CRUCES — Alerted by his dogs barking at a backyard shed, a Las Cruces man found a suspected burglar Thursday afternoon after sherrif's deputies had combed his property and the neighborhood looking for the suspect.

Eventually Doña Ana County Sheriff's Department deputies arrested 22-year-old Aaron Reed, a felon with a previous burglary conviction among others, in connection to the nearby break-in that afternoon.

Sheriff's Department spokeswoman Kelly Jameson said Reed is in custody at the Doña Ana County Detention Center.

The 41-year-old man, who discovered Reed's hideout, said he was fixing part of a fence damaged by K-9 units searching his yard on the 600 block of King Edward Avenue. He did not want to be identified due to possible reprisal.

While making fence repairs, the man's dogs faced his shed and started to bark. The man said he went to his house, grabbed a .22-caliber handgun — the smallest gun he had — and looked in the shed.

"I was about to walk away when I saw that guy move," said the man, who lives down the street from the victim. "I wasn't going to shoot him. I just wanted to scare him."

Apparently it worked.

The neighbor said Reed bolted, then tripped in his yard, falling "flat on his face."

While on the ground, Reed allegedly tried to knock the gun out of the man's hand. When Reed stood up, the man said he fired shots into the air. Jameson said she couldn't confirm shots were fired, adding that no deputy fired a weapon.

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Reed was not armed, Jameson said. Deputies thought Reed might have been carrying a gun, according to scanner traffic Thursday. But Jameson said a deputy found ammunition in the victim's house and was unsure if it belonged to Reed or the homeowner.

"He took off like a bat out of hell," the man said, "He lost both shoes when I shot."

Deputies captured the barefoot Reed shortly afterward.

He was charged with residential burglary and conspiracy to commit burglary, which are felonies, and evading arrest, a misdemeanor.

Said Jameson of the neighbor's actions: "Of course, we don't ever advise that you do that under any condition, but this neighbor apparently did what he thought had to be done under the circumstances."

Reed reportedly told investigators that he had an accomplice in the burglary, but declined to identify that person.

Reed was on parole, having been released from prison in October where he had been because of an aggravated assault and burglary conviction.

In 2011, Las Cruces police found Reed hiding in a business near Idaho Avenue and Pecos Street. According to reports, he was armed and reaching for his gun as officers approached.

James Staley may be reached at 575-541-5476. Follow him on Twitter @auguststaley

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